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Reinstatement of the run of the time limits in administrative and court proceedings

Since May 23, 2020 the time limits in administrative and court proceedings shall commence, or – in the case of suspended time limits – shall continue its course. The changes in this respect were introduced in connection with the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic.

A new Act on the amendments of certain Acts with regards to preventive measures due to the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus[i]. The Act repeals the provisions of Articles 15zzr and 15zzs of the Act on the special measures introduced to prevent, counteract and combat COVID-19, other infectious diseases and crises caused by them which had been binding since 31st March of 2020.

These provisions ensured that the time limits in administrative and court proceedings (including administrative court proceedings) during the state of epidemic hazard or epidemic shall not run, i.e. they shall not commence, or shall be suspended in the case of time limits which had commenced.

That shall apply to, i.a., the time limits for appealing against a decision, lodging a complaint against a ruling issued in administrative procedure, rectifying formal deficiencies in an application, lodging an application for revision of a judgement, lodging a complaint with a voivodeship administrative court.In conjunction with the repeal of the aforementioned Articles 15zzr and 15zzs, the time limits shall commence, or – in the case of time limits which had been suspended – shall continue to run (deducing the days prior to the suspension) as at May 23rd of 2020.

Moreover, please remember that the aforementioned regulations shall not apply to the run of the time limits for lodging applications for residence permits, extending the visas or the period of residence under the visa-free travel, the time limit for a foreigner’s obligation to leave the territory of the Republic of Poland[iv] or the time limits for voluntary returns specified in the decisions on the obligation to leave the territory issued to foreigners. Pursuant to the previous information, the time limits were extended until the lapse of the 30th day after the state of epidemic hazard or an epidemic expires – depending on which shall expire last.